A review by Mark Jason Murray

The Stendhal Syndrome a.k.a. La Sindrome Di Stendhal. 1996, D, S/P-Dario Argento. P-Giuseppe Colombo. Music-Ennio Morricone. 113 min. (Luminous Film & Video Wurks) Argento's latest effort sees him taking a bit of a step backwards toward the giallo style that brought him his initial success. Anna Manni (Argento's daughter, Asia (Demons, Church, Trauma)) is a Roman police woman in the anti-rape division. While in Florence to compare information on a serial rapist case similar to one in Rome, she is taken over by what is known as the Stendhal Syndrome in an art gallery. The Stendhal Syndrome is a curious affliction where one becomes both emotionally and physically immersed in beautiful paintings. Anna believes she has just dove into the water of a painting before fainting and hitting her chin on a table, rendering her unconscious. A man named Alfredo Grossi (Thomas Kretschmann) offers help when she can't remember her name but she is scared and refuses. Once back to reality, it is discovered that Alfredo is actually the rapist everyone is after and he has taken a dangerous liking to Anna resulting in her rape and abuse at the edge of a razor blade. As Anna tries to deal with what has happened, the killer continues to stalk her. The police guarding her apartment are disposed of quickly and Alfredo takes her to an abandoned building where earlier he had made a local prostitute his latest victim. Anna is raped again but manages to free herself. After shooting and stabbing him several times, Anna throws Alfredo's nearly dead body into a nearby stream. When the body does not turn up, Anna is certain that he is still out to have her. Later, a budding romance with a French art student, Marie (Julien Lambroschini), is threatened when Anna believes the killer won't let her be with anyone else. But the film takes a weird twist of fate at the end leaving this an interesting addition to Argento's filmography. Argento had stated that this was the film that would return him to his roots, bringing back the savagery of his earlier work. On several counts it does and falls short in others. I must say that a rapist who likes to blow off women's heads at point blank range during orgasm is easily the most brutal image ever captured for an Argento film, not to mention the most misogynistic. Of course, there are a few over the top scenes as in every one of his films. This time, a bullet is seen through extreme slow motion passing through the side of a screaming mouth. This is a sight to see and effects man, Sergio Stivaletti, should be commended. Another scene features another slow motion bullet that contains the shadow of the killer on it as it passes. One thing that I terribly miss from Argento's early films is the unknown gloved killer that he is so fond of. There is no mystery to whom the killer is since he is immediately exposed at the beginning of the film. This film also marks the weirdest scene of any Argento films; a graffiti paining of a large monster complete with giant male appendage comes to life in Anna's mind. As usual, the camera plays close attention to drops of blood but seems to take a neutral look at the action as opposed to the voyeuristic style so prominent in earlier films. One seems to feel as if you were peaking around the corner to witness something you shouldn't in films like Suspiria, Tenebrae, etc. This time, the action is presented more outright and stale. A great trademark soundtrack by Ennio Morricone (another nod to Argento's work of the past) adds a good feel to some relatively stale cinematography. If Argento continues with this direction, we may be seeing the return of the master, and this is a good first step. Definitely much better than anything done since Opera, though Italian crowds didn't seem interested as the film apparently was a mega-flop. His next planned production is a re-make of Phantom Of The Opera. Honestly, that doesn't sound too interesting. The print offered here is of excellent quality though barely even wide screen enough to be considered so.